The mystery of Jayden Hunt

[Coup Cooper 610]

On 24 January 2016 at 6:46 PM, Georgiou R.R. Martin said:

He's a big improver body wise which hopefully means they've fixed his back and should translate in to both improved performances and consistency at Casey. 

I'm not convinced he'll be the dashing half back flanker we recruited him for as so far he hasn't been a natural high possession winner which good back flankers are, nor has he used the ball particularly well. 

But the goals he kicked at Casey and the x factor displayed on the back of an interrupted season points towards him being a very handy half forward type who could easily come in to the AFL side. 

Early days though, he's really only catching up to where most first year players are in terms of his body and skills, 

I agree.. At least he is being given time to develop.. If he can play 5-8 games I'd be impressed..

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

But he's like Brawndo.  He's got what the club needs. 

[Slartibartfast 17,279]

17 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This will upset a few around here, but i do not rate him and can't seeing him making it at all. Should have rookie listed him instead of Viv.

Ok Dazzle. Why would the club have done it the way they did?

Its not that hard to work out. 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Baghdad Bob
Correct punctuation so Dazzle knew it was a question.

[dazzledavey36 54,942]

1 hour ago, Baghdad Bob said:

Ok Dazzle. Why would the club have done it the way they did?

Its not that hard to work out. 

How would i know? But i dont agree with it. Simple really..

[Wiseblood 24,637]

1 hour ago, Whispering_Jack said:

I want to play devil's advocate here because there have been times over the past two years when I became a sceptic where Jayden Hunt is concerned. He hasn't put too many runs on the board but there's a reason for that - his bad run with injury. However, that's not the full story behind my scepticism.

The problem with him when he finally got going last year was the fact that he didn't lay his hands on the ball often enough. In the elimination final against Essendon last year, Hunt managed only seven touches and kicked one goal. In his first senior game of the year at Casey he kicked three goals in the second half when the Scorpions easily disposed of Geelong and he had 12 disposals. That's one more than he got in his only other double digit possession game - against the Northern Blues when he booted four goals. Therefore, his record to date is two good games against lowly opposition and five ordinary ones.

 

That record certainly didn't auger well for him and he might easily have been delisted at season's end on that basis. I think there were a few eyebrows raised when the club did that to Viv Michie but kept the lesser performed Hunt on the books.

 

The silver lining for Hunt now is the way the club has managed to build him up physically which gives him the opportunity to compete more in the physical aspects of the game. But I'm also wondering if he's managed to build up his endurance as well to go with the outstanding attribute of having pace to burn. That could be the answer to the mystery.

All good points WJ. 

I'm happy to back the club in terms of giving him another year. Obviously they see enough to give him another year and, if it pays off, it's a terrific find for the club as he possesses traits not many of our players have. 

If, on the other hand, it doesn't work out then the risk was minimal and we move on. 

[rolly 149]

3 hours ago, RalphiusMaximus said:

But he's like Brawndo.  He's got what the club needs. 

He's got electrolytes?

[monoccular 17,429]

4 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This will upset a few around here, but i do not rate him and can't seeing him making it at all. Should have rookie listed him instead of Viv.

Well, I guess a few more qualified and informed insiders at the club view things quite differently .......  such are the joys of having a forum such as this.  

Only time will tell.  I (and hopefully you) hope you turn out to be horribly wrong. 

[Sydney Pennski 296]

7 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

How would i know? But i dont agree with it. Simple really..

You're entitled to disagree and that's fine but there is most likely a reason why the club retained Hunt and not Michie. My guess is that they saw something in the pace and the raw talent in Hunt that was worth persevering with and possibly that other clubs might be prepared to invest in him if we didn't - whereas in Michie's case where he has already been at one club before us, there was no such likelihood and we would be free to pick him up as a rookie.

[beelzebub 23,376]

Could be anything. ...or nothing.

So far nothing. Is his success critical to ours ? No

Sorry....care factor... Not much

[dazzledavey36 54,942]

6 hours ago, monoccular said:

Well, I guess a few more qualified and informed insiders at the club view things quite differently .......  such are the joys of having a forum such as this.  

Only time will tell.  I (and hopefully you) hope you turn out to be horribly wrong. 

Only time will tell. If he proves to be an absolute gun il be the first to throw my hand up and cop my fair wack.

The fact that he really struggles to win more then 10 disposal a game is a real worry, yes i understand he has been injured also.

Someone put out a stat the other day about how outside players who struggle to win the footy on the outside tend to translate that into AFL level and their careers are not as successful at all as what it was at junior level. The biggest strength is his speed obviously which is we lack. With where the game is going you need to be able to run both ways and actually win the footy to be able to make an impact.

Personally i can't see him making it but hopefully with now a full pre season he comes out all guns blazing.

[rjay 24,928]

28 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Only time will tell. If he proves to be an absolute gun il be the first to throw my hand up and cop my fair wack.

The fact that he really struggles to win more then 10 disposal a game is a real worry, yes i understand he has been injured also.

Someone put out a stat the other day about how outside players who struggle to win the footy on the outside tend to translate that into AFL level and their careers are not as successful at all as what it was at junior level. The biggest strength is his speed obviously which is we lack. With where the game is going you need to be able to run both ways and actually win the footy to be able to make an impact.

Personally i can't see him making it but hopefully with now a full pre season he comes out all guns blazing.

He's also spent a bit of time playing as a small forward and they're not renowned for getting a lot of ball.

I'll be interested to see how he goes this year 'dazzle', one things for sure is that he will need to get the possession count up a bit.

[Slartibartfast 17,279]

10 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This will upset a few around here, but i do not rate him and can't seeing him making it at all. Should have rookie listed him instead of Viv.

How would i know? But i dont agree with it. Simple really..

Clearly, whether you agree or not, the FD wanted to keep both Michie and Hunt on the list but also wanted to have four spots for selections in the National Draft.  As both Michie and Hunt were out of contract and were the only ones able to vacate a spot to allow for 4 ND picks then one had to be delisted and rookied.

The FD would have then had to determine the best way to achieve this goal.  When a club wants to move a player to the rookie list they can't simply transfer him, he must be delisted and then taken as a rookie.  The danger of course is the delisted player can either elect to go to another club as a delisted free agent or be picked up by another club in the ND, PSD or rookie draft.  So the transfer involves some "risk".  Clearly the FD decided that there was less risk involved in moving Michie rather than Hunt.  That's why the club did it the way they did, it was all about giving them the best chance of achieving their objective and may not have anything to do with how they rated the players. This is contrary to your position of rating the players and then trying to get the objective - a greater risk.

I don't agree with your position of favouring Michie over Hunt anyway, it's a simplistic position and not well thought through..  Michie has had five years in an AFL environment and appears to be no more than a meat and potatoes midfielder (sorry Samuel).  He sits comfortably with players like Newton, M Jones and co as players that will be AFL depth at best.  N Jones, Vince, Viney, AVB, Tyson and Brayshaw are clearly ahead of him.  Petracca, ABN, Stretch, Melksham, Bugg, Salem, Kennedy, Harmes, Oliver, Trengove all have midfield aspirations which leave Newton, Michie and Jones all well down the pecking order for spots.

Hunt has shown nothing really except he does have some AFL characteristics.  He is blindingly quick, has clean hands and can break lines.  If he succeeds he can add something to our team that we don't have.  Like you I have low expectations but I'd much rather have him on the list than a mid that in five years on an AFL list sits outside the top 10 in terms of midfield hierarchy on exposed form. 

 

[DeeZee 7,395]

After reading all the training reports and seeing how Jayden was burning off most of his team mates, I nominate him as my big smokey for this year.....Real outside speed is what we are desperate for and with Hunt and Kennedy now in the mix along with a fit Kent, it looks really exciting for the up coming season.

[mauriesy 7,296]

A player who is "blindingly quick, has clean hands and can break lines", like Cyril Rioli, can have 12 possessions and kick 6 goals.

(Please don't say "Hunt's not Rioli", that's obvious.)

[Bossdog 2,002]

Garlett doesn't get many more possessions but he in in my team. 

[McQueen 17,864]

I think it'll be fantastic to watch an MFC player light up the afterburners out of the back line, leaving opponents in his wake and then pump it hard into the forward 50.

Potentially having one of the fastest players in the comp will be great for the club. 

[stuie 7,374]

5 hours ago, McQueen said:

I think it'll be fantastic to watch an MFC player light up the afterburners out of the back line, leaving opponents in his wake and then pump it hard into the forward 50.

Potentially having one of the fastest players in the comp will be great for the club. 

Blease.

 

[Wiseblood 24,637]

5 hours ago, Bossdog said:

Garlett doesn't get many more possessions but he in in my team. 

Not exactly a fair comparison.  Garlett is a proven goal sneak at AFL level and does it on a consistent basis.  Hunt hasn't come close to that yet.  He hasn't even done it on a consistent level for Casey.

I'd love him to make it, I really would... but let's not get carried away.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,240]

10 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Could be anything. ...or nothing.

So far nothing. Is his success critical to ours ? No

Sorry....care factor... Not much

I agree with about half of your post bb!

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

Incidentally, given the title of this thread, I propose that Hunt be nicknamed "The Enigma."

[McQueen 17,864]

24 minutes ago, stuie said:

Blease.

 

Please!

[stuie 7,374]

2 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Please!

"Potentially having one of the fastest players in the comp will be great for the club."

Speed isn't everything, Blease should have shown you that. So far, Hunt has shown very little and it's a bit crazy how over the top some people are getting about him for no other reason than it's offseason and he's apparently bulked up slightly.

 

[McQueen 17,864]

8 minutes ago, stuie said:

"Potentially having one of the fastest players in the comp will be great for the club."

Speed isn't everything, Blease should have shown you that. So far, Hunt has shown very little and it's a bit crazy how over the top some people are getting about him for no other reason than it's offseason and he's apparently bulked up slightly.

 

Development then, development now.

Let's consider a few very important variables before applying the broad brush stroke.

[stuie 7,374]

2 minutes ago, McQueen said:

Development then, development now.

Let's consider a few very important variables before applying the broad brush stroke.

Let's also remember Hunt was pick 57 and is yet to even play a game.

 

[Satyriconhome 10,878]

14 minutes ago, stuie said:

Let's also remember Hunt was pick 57 and is yet to even play a game.

 

 

28 minutes ago, stuie said:

"Potentially having one of the fastest players in the comp will be great for the club."

Speed isn't everything, Blease should have shown you that. So far, Hunt has shown very little and it's a bit crazy how over the top some people are getting about him for no other reason than it's offseason and he's apparently bulked up slightly.

 

Not going overboard, but having watched him at junior level, seen him training, spoken to both the coaches and recrutiing staff, it is good to see him over his injury issues and having a crack at getting into the AFL side, he has been given a year to show what he can do injury free, he may not show anything, but after talking to him as well, I am pleased that the Footy Dept has seen fit to at least give him the opportunity